§ 25. Mr. Squireasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on the benefits to be derived by the less developed countries from the generalised system of preferences recently negotiated by the European Community.
§ Mr. ParkinsonThe generalised scheme of preference introduced by the European Communities from 1 January 1981 is the result of a major review of the scheme first introduced 10 years ago. The scheme affords preferential entry to imports from the less-developed countries. Under the new scheme, the benefits available to the least-developed countries are significantly greater than those available to countries where industrialisation has reached a relatively advanced stage. All industrial products are granted duty-free access, subject to quotas or ceilings in the case of products sensitive to Community industries. Preferential entry is extended to a range of agricultural products usually without quantitative limit but often at reduced rather than zero duty. The status quo was retained for textiles this year.